swimmers ear

Originally posted by gull80 Probably wax (cerumen), in which case you may need to have a doctor remove it. Don't try this at home. Not a big deal (just takes a few minutes); you can buy over the counter drops to soften it up first so that it will be easier to remove. This was my thought as well. Long-time swimmers probably have very little wax in their ears, but new-to-the-pool swimmers haven't had the normal buildup of wax cleared out yet. Chances are that the water loosened up a healthy chunk of wax from the ear canal, and now it's blocking things for you. They sell special syringes that you can have someone use to flush out your ear canal. (No, it's not a needle. It's more like a special turkey baster.) But if it were I with the problem, I would pay the copay to have my doctor do it professionally. You MIGHT be able to clear it out by letting the shower pelt your ear, at hot as you can stand it, maybe 5 minutes a day. MAYBE after a few days you might wash it out. BTW, when I read the title of the thread, I thought it would be something else. Traditionally, "swimmers ear" is rather painful, and it often results from bacteria flourishing in the ear canal because of water that stays trapped in there. You get a nice little pool of water festering and it growing all sorts of "companions" that share the pool with you. Ear drops (alcohol, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, etc.) help the ear dry out to eliminate the medium that allows the nasties to grow. A full-blown case of swimmers ear can be hell. An outer-ear infection is often treated with drops of some sort that your doctor prescribes. It's ofren uncomfortable to press at all on your outer ear by the opening, so even wearing a knit hat can hurt. An inner ear infection usually requires antibiotics. (Inner ear infections are especially painful if you go under water even to some very minimal depths -- including just doing flip turns. I can tell you from personal experience.) Back to the wax, I had to have my ear flushed once, many years ago. My doctor did it. Not painful. He blasted the turkey baster into my ear. I held a little pan to catch the flush-out. I couldn't believe the size of the wax hunk he dislodged. It was about the size of the end segment of my pinkie finger. It was amazing how well I could hear after that!

Originally posted by gull80 Probably wax (cerumen), in which case you may need to have a doctor remove it. Don't try this at home. Not a big deal (just takes a few minutes); you can buy over the counter drops to soften it up first so that it will be easier to remove. This was my thought as well. Long-time swimmers probably have very little wax in their ears, but new-to-the-pool swimmers haven't had the normal buildup of wax cleared out yet. Chances are that the water loosened up a healthy chunk of wax from the ear canal, and now it's blocking things for you. They sell special syringes that you can have someone use to flush out your ear canal. (No, it's not a needle. It's more like a special turkey baster.) But if it were I with the problem, I would pay the copay to have my doctor do it professionally. You MIGHT be able to clear it out by letting the shower pelt your ear, at hot as you can stand it, maybe 5 minutes a day. MAYBE after a few days you might wash it out. BTW, when I read the title of the thread, I thought it would be something else. Traditionally, "swimmers ear" is rather painful, and it often results from bacteria flourishing in the ear canal because of water that stays trapped in there. You get a nice little pool of water festering and it growing all sorts of "companions" that share the pool with you. Ear drops (alcohol, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, etc.) help the ear dry out to eliminate the medium that allows the nasties to grow. A full-blown case of swimmers ear can be hell. An outer-ear infection is often treated with drops of some sort that your doctor prescribes. It's ofren uncomfortable to press at all on your outer ear by the opening, so even wearing a knit hat can hurt. An inner ear infection usually requires antibiotics. (Inner ear infections are especially painful if you go under water even to some very minimal depths -- including just doing flip turns. I can tell you from personal experience.) Back to the wax, I had to have my ear flushed once, many years ago. My doctor did it. Not painful. He blasted the turkey baster into my ear. I held a little pan to catch the flush-out. I couldn't believe the size of the wax hunk he dislodged. It was about the size of the end segment of my pinkie finger. It was amazing how well I could hear after that!